Roman School

17th Century

Saint Ambrose

Footnotes

Provenance
The Collection of Ernest May, Paris
With Knoedler, New York, 1978

Exhibited
Galerie Charpentier, Paris, 1925

Literature
A. Dayot, 'Une exposition d'art ancien espagnol' in L'Art et les Artistes, vol. XI (new series), Paris, 1925, pp. 293-300, ill. p. 294 (as by Herrera the Elder, in the Collection of Ernest May)
'Art ancien espagnol', in l'Art vivant, Paris, 1 July 1925, pp. 19-21, ill., p. 20
A. Mayer, 'Notas a cuadros espanoles' in Boletin de la Sociedad Espanola de Excursiones y de la Seccion Excursionista de la Facultad de Filosofia y Letra, Madrid, December 1935, pp. 239-240, ill.

The present work presumably formed part of a series of paintings depicting The four Doctors of the Church. Early copies of the four originals can be found in the Museo del Prado, Madrid (inv. nos 1.311-1.314) and numerous further copies attest to the popularity of the series. The only other original known from this group is the Saint Gregory the Great, formerly with Didier Aaron in 1978 (as Giovanni Lanfranco) and which is now in the Sarah Campbell Blaffer Foundation, Houston (BF.1984.21). Whilst there are some stylistic affinities with the work of Giovanni Lanfranco the present Saint Ambrose is much freer in its handling and its authorship remains unknown.

We are grateful to Dr Erich Schleier for his kind assistance with this catalogue entry.